The vice chairman of the Walt Disney Company, Roy E. Disney, resigned from the board of directors today, citing his ``serious differences of opinion'' with the chairman, Michael D. Eisner, ``about the direction and style of management in the company.''

Mr. Disney, the nephew of Walt Disney, also called for Mr. Eisner's resignation. In addition, Mr. Disney stepped down from his position as chairman of the feature animation division.

The resignation lays bare a sharp conflict in an entertainment and media company that has called its theme parks ``the happiest place on earth.''

You well know that you and I have had serious differences of opinion about the direction and style of management in the company in recent years,'' Mr. Disney wrote to Mr. Eisner. ``For whatever reason, you have driven a wedge between me and those I work with even to the extent of requiring some of I disagreeociates to report my conversations and activities to you. I find this intolerable.''

Mr. Disney noted that the nominating committee had excluded him from the slate up for election to the board of the publicly held company, ``effectively muzzling my voice on the board.''

Just last year in a boardroom power play, Mr. Eisner prevailed over his chief critic and fellow board member, Stanley P. Gold, investment adviser to the family of Roy E. Disney, Walt Disney's nephew.

After that episode, the board was reconfigured, in a move that was said to reduce the influence of Mr. Eisner's critics.

Mr. Disney acknowledged that he fell into the category of critic.

``Michael, I believe your conduct has resulted from my clear and unambiguous statements to you and the board of directors that after 19 years at the helm you are no longer the best person to run the Walt Disney Company,'' Mr. Disney wrote, adding that in the last 10 years the company ``has lost its focus, its creative energy, and its heritage.''

The Disney company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Shares closed at $23.09 on Friday.

Who needs soap operas on TV when you can have this real life corporate intrigue stuff at a place that just celebrated Walt's 100th Birthday a year ago and Mickey's 75th birthday within the last couple of weeks? Who'd'a thunk it? Though it's been building to this for two years or so, the surprise is when it happens and not that it happens at all. Gonna be some kind of December, eh? And the stockholders meeting usually held in February or March, some kinda fun then, too.All IMHO/YMMV.

NEW YORK, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Walt Disney Co. (DIS) Vice Chairman Roy Disney has left the company's board and is calling for Chairman and Chief Executive Michael Eisner to resign his posts, according to a report in the online edition of The Wall Street Journal.

In a three-page letter to Eisner, Roy Disney said, "It is my sincere belief that it is you who should be leaving and not me," the newspaper reported.

Disney cited a litany of complaints about Eisner's leadership, including the performance of ABC television and radio networks and Disney theme parks.

But the impetus for the resignation might be his apparent exclusion from the list of nominees to the board for the coming year, the report said. Disney has a board meeting this Tuesday.

A Disney source familiar with the situation confirmed that three board members, including Roy Disney, would not be up for re-nomination.

"Three directors have been told they are not going to be nominated again," the source said.

The three board members all passed the mandatory retirement age of 72, a threshold that has been waived in the past, the source said.

Roy Disney and Eisner have been at odds in recent years over the company's management as its strong financial position has faltered.

Roy Disney, the nephew of visionary company founder Walt Disney, in August said he struck a deal to sell more than 40 percent of his stake in the company, in which he was the largest individual shareholder.

A spokesmen for Roy Disney was not immediately available to comment on Sunday.

Another couple of sources of information particularly Monday morning December 1, 2003:

Wall Street Journal, either the newspaper or online

CNBC on cable TV or satellite, a financial news network. Eastern time they start live morning news coverage at 5 am Eastern/Central 4 am/Mountain 3 am/Pacific 2 am. At 7 am Eastern, 6 am Central, 5 am Mountain, 4 am Pacific there will be a change of news anchor and a panel of Joe Kernan and another fellow who closely follow stocks will be on to provide any further news and their own analysis and financial news investigative reporting. Wake up with this, like more details will emerge through tonight into Monday morning and through the week.

There are other financial news networks and correspondents out there, too, such as CNN FN, FOX News Channel and Neil Cavuto on that network in the afternoon weekdays at 4 pm Eastern, 3 pm Central, 2 pm Mountain and 1 pm Pacific.

If you are deep into wanting commentary and analysis on this story, CNBC offers some weekday evening shows after the markets close. Particularly what I have in mind is "Kudlow and Craemer" at 9 pm Eastern, 8 pm Central, 7 pm Mountain and 6 pm Pacific Monday evening, then on Friday December 5th "Louis Rukeyser" on CNBC at 8:30 pm Eastern, 7:30 pm Central, 6:30 pm Mountain and 5:30 pm Pacific.

Disney's resignation may be a pre-emptive move to avoid being forced off the board of The Walt Disney Co. The board's governance and nominating committee has decided not to recommend Disney for another term because he is over the mandated retirement age of 72, sources close to the company said Sunday.

The full board is scheduled to meet Monday and Tuesday in New York and board membership is on the agenda.

The story was first reported in the Wall Street Journal, which said the 73-year-old Disney sent a scathing three-page letter to the board on Sunday critical of Eisner's leadership over the past seven years.

A call to Disney, nephew of company co-founder Walt Disney, was not immediately returned Sunday.

Disney and his closest board associate, Stanley Gold, have been among Eisner's most vocal critics as the company's stock price has declined and the company has struggled with falling ratings at its ABC Television network.

The two other board members who will not be renominated are Raymond Watson, 76, and Thomas Murphy, 77, according to a source.

I'm not informed enough to know who Thomas Murphy is, but look at Raymond Watson. Run to the public library on Monday and borrow a book called "Storming the Magic Kingdom". It's out of print now, public libraries are very likely to carry this. It's about the days leading up to 1984 when Disney was up for hostile takeover and Roy Disney and Raymond Watson, among others, brought in Frank Wells and Michael Eisner from Paramount to be #1 and #2 on Disney's Board of Directors and for the Company and turn the Company around. In short, Ray Watson and Roy Disney are responsible for Michael Eisner and the late Mr. Wells being at Disney in the first place. Wells died in a helicopter crash in the spring of 1994, a few months before "The Lion King" came out, the film is dedicated to Wells. If there have been tensions between Michael Eisner and Roy Disney "for the past 7 years" as one story Rich read to me on the phone purports, that would date to around 1996 and the approximate time Disney bought Capital Cities/ABC. Over the past 2-3 years it's been open in the financial press how Roy Disney was increasingly dissatisfied with how the Disney company and its stock was going and with how Michael Eisner was running the place. In any good news archive online these stories are researchable. Roy's last "hurrah" was "Fantasia 2000", I guess, since Roy had a special management interest in Disney Feature Animation. Earlier this year Roy Disney sold off a big block of his Disney stock. In November it made news that the Orlando Florida feature animation department might be closing. Now this news. Just FWIW/IMHO/YMMV.

Walt Disney Co. Vice Chairman Roy E. Disney submitted his resignation from the company board on Sunday and called for Disney Chairman and CEO Michael Eisner to step down from his own positions, the WALL STREET JOURNAL is reporting.

Disney, nephew to the late Walt Disney, sent Eisner a three-page letter severely criticizing his leadership during the past seven years:

'It is my sincere belief that it is you who should be leaving and not me,... Accordingly, I once again call for your resignation or retirement.'

WSJ reporter Bruce Orwall writes that in his letter Disney said that Eisner deserved credit for a successful first decade after taking the helm at Disney in 1984. But he then detailed seven areas in which he said Mr. Eisner has failed the company in the past seven years.

The list of complaints included everything from the performance of the struggling ABC broadcast networks and Disney theme parks to Mr. Eisner's reputation for "micro-management of everyone around you."

The resignation comes in advance of a Disney board meeting this week. Mr. Disney's letter seems to indicate that the Disney board's nominating committee had decided to leave his name off the slate of directors to be elected for the coming year. Mr. Disney also indicated that he would also resign from his position as chairman of Disney feature animation.

A Disney spokeswoman initially declined to comment.

DEVELOPING HARD...

End of quoted material.

Matt Drudge has a radio show, he might be talking about this. The show airs Sunday nights, here is a link to the affiliates to determine if a local station to you is carrying Matt Drudge's show and if so at what time tonight:

Gotta hand it to Al Lutz at his MiceAge.com site. Al's got the complete text of Roy Disney's letter. Other links are to Associated Press or Reuters news stories already cited here. If you want to read Roy Disney's letter for as long as Al chooses to keep the link up, go to http://www.miceage.com and you'll see at the top of the homepage the lead link is to Roy Disney's letter and other articles as of Sunday night 11/30/03 6:50 pm Central time (where I am). If the link moves later than this I'm not responsible for keeping that close track of things, just go to Al's site and poke around.